


Of Various Storms

by starbboy



Series: waiting for it, that green light [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Green Lantern - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Guy Gardner is a little shit and I love him, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Protective Talia al Ghul, cursing folk! be warned!, he and talia become Tea buddies, in both senses of the word Tea, no beta we die like jason todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25068823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbboy/pseuds/starbboy
Summary: Guy's objectives for tonight were as follows:1. Make one of the deadliest assassins in the world like him enough to continue letting her son live with him.2. Find out how her thought process had led her into seducing Gotham’s most violent furry.3. Embarrass the shit out of Jason.Talia and Guy finally meet. Jason questions his life choices.
Relationships: Guy Gardner & Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul & Jason Todd
Series: waiting for it, that green light [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774906
Comments: 17
Kudos: 284





	Of Various Storms

**Author's Note:**

> It's here! Talia and Guy meet! How will it go? (probably well since im a coward who likes fluff not arguments but who knows)  
> I wasn't going to write this but y'all convinced me.  
> Hope you enjoy. It's a little crackish because I was tired when I wrote the start.

Guy was not freaking out, but he probably should be. Of all the situations, meeting your roommate’s assassin mother figure was probably pretty high on the freak-out list.

Guy had decided that Jason was stressing out enough for the both of them and was content to chill, honestly. Talia seemed cool and he was like eighty percent sure she wasn’t going to kill him which, considering his day job, were actually pretty good odds.

His objectives for tonight were as follows:

  1. Make one of the deadliest assassins in the world like him enough to continue letting her son live with him.
  2. Find out how her thought process had led her into seducing Gotham’s most violent furry.
  3. Embarrass the _shit_ out of Jason.



He only had a game plan for the last point. He’d been collecting photos of Jason doing stupid things since his second visit and had been mentally compiling his favourite stories to tell her. From what Jason had told him, Talia would appreciate it. She may not be a normal mother, but any good parent was interested in tales of their children exhibiting no common sense.

Maybe that’s why Jason was so stressed. Well, if he hadn’t decided to stay up for thirty eight hours straight and then brush his teeth with shaving cream Guy wouldn’t have to tell that story to Talia, so really it was his fault.

Guy supposed he’d keep the _super_ embarrassing stories for next time though, just to be nice.

Back to the present, Guy was standing in front of his slightly disorganised closet, trying to figure out what to wear. Jason told him that Talia had booked a reservation at some nice place towards the centre of town and that he was under strict instructions for both of them to dress “accordingly.”

“Accordingly,” apparently meant something between a full ass suit and shorts and a T-shirt and was unfortunately not a style of dress that Guy had many clothes of. Ninety percent of his wardrobe was hoodies and sweatpants since they were multipurpose and comfortable. Not to mention Jason used a lot of them as well so Guy began buying extra as a habit.

Jason was in the shower right now, washing off the grime from his most recent case, which he only finished yesterday. He tried to shower as soon as he had wrapped it up and came home. But Guy had taken one look at him, eyes barely staying open and swaying on his feet, and decided he would be going to sleep and directly to sleep, do not collect any money, do not pass go. Jason had then slept like a rock for thirteen hours before waking up and panicking about the meetup with Talia.

Guy made the executive decision to wait until Jason was out of the shower to choose his clothes, so he’d have the opinion of somebody who had a decent idea of what he was doing and went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich with banana and chocolate.

Jason appeared a bit later, already fully dressed wearing a short sleeved shirt with little suns on it with black trousers and his leather jacket tied around his waist. The whole outfit was completed by one of those twisty towel constructions that Jason had wrapped his hair in, which jiggled slightly as he moved.

“You’re not dressed yet.” Jason says, blinking slightly as he moves to gather his things.

“Nah, needed an outside opinion.” Guy replies, taking a bite of his sandwich. 

Jason raises his eyebrow at him. “You do know we’re going out to eat in about ten minutes.”

“Yeah but I wanted a sandwich.”

“Did you make me one?”

Guy smiles, “Course I did Jace.” He hands Jason his sandwich, which has Nutella on it.

They move to the bedroom, where Jason picks out clothes for Guy to wear. He really isn’t the fashion type either but he knows what clothes will help convince Talia that they have a little bit of their shit together, so Guy trusts him.

Guy is realising that he trusts Jason in general now. This is the sixth time Guy has come back to Earth and to his flat with Jason living there as well and he likes it. It’s comforting and gives him some reason to stay connected to Earth. He didn’t really have any reason to before, he visited a lot less before he bumped into Jason on that rooftop. It provides some security, he thinks, there is someone out there other than the Lanterns who will look out for him, help him stay safe if he needs it. Guy is under no illusions, he knows what most of the hero community thinks of him, he supposes it’s his fault - he’s crass and rude and slightly self-centred, those are hard qualities to like. On the other hand, some people just can’t be helped, like Batman who just doesn’t really like Lanterns, although he’s not too fussed about getting Batman’s seal of approval.

But yeah, Guy trusts Jason and he cares for the kid too, he’s finding that when he refers to his little Earth apartment as home, Jason is included in that. And Guy can clearly remember the day he first heard Jason refer to the place as home himself and how proud that made Guy feel. Jason didn’t seem to realize what he had done though, or why Guy had suddenly grinned and moved to hug him.

After a lot of serious deliberation Guy ends up wearing one of his nicer pairs of jeans and some polo shirt he forgot he owned along with his only jacket with no patches on it. They wind leaving a little later than they hoped because Guy got so caught up in telling Jason a story about something that happened with the other Green Lanterns that they lost track of time.

They take Jason’s bike to get there because it’s the only mode of transport the two of them own and they don’t want to walk in the February cold. Jason forces Guy to wear a scarf wrapped around his face in a way that makes him look like a criminal (in Guy’s opinion). He tries to reason that the ring helps regulate his body temperature and that he won’t get cold but Jason doesn’t budge. He himself only wears a thin scarf so Guy thinks he’s being a hypocrite and takes the scarf off at the first red light they stop at. He sees Jason roll his eyes fondly in the mirror and just grins back, the bottom of his face finally free from its fabric prison.

They a few minutes early, thanks to Jason’s slightly crazy driving but as predicted Talia is already there. She’s sitting in a booth, impassively regal as she scans the menu. She only looks up when they both reach the table, Jason sliding into the booth first, getting prime place in the middle and giving Guy the safest spot to make an escape from.

Talia smiles at Jason, a gesture done more with her eyes and nose than mouth. It’s still sharp, her eyes flick over him, assessing how he looks. She sits at the table with an air of confidence, like she belongs there but can and will attack in a split second if she deems fit.

She turns to face Guy and her smile shifts, still genuine but more with her mouth than eyes this time. Sending a clear message that she is wary.

“Mr Gardner. Wonderful to finally meet you.” She nods, clasping her hands in front of her.

“Uh, you too Miss Al Ghul. ‘S nice to come face to face with the woman who helped take care of Jason.” He smiles. Jason seems a little nervous but more relaxed than when they walked in, Guy must have said the right thing then. He kicks Jason’s foot gently under the table to reassure him.

“You make it sound like we are about to fight Mr Gardner.” She replies, and Guy can see a very familiar glint of mischief in her eye. He wonders if she learnt it from Jason or the other way round.

“I don’t think I’d last long enough for it to be considered a fight.” Guy grins, sure he’s a great Green Lantern but he’s never going to be able to go up against a trained assassin and win. He did boxing in high school and that's it. “And, uh, please call me Guy.”

Talia looks a bit put off by that but Jason laughs.

“I think she’d rather change her middle name to Bob than do that.”

 _“Habibi.”_ She says reproachfully but Jason just snickers. 

Talia turns back to Guy, and if he thought she was capable of doing an eyeroll, she would have done one just then. She’s smiling though, so it’s all fine. 

“So. What is it like living with Jason?” Her expression is neutral, there is neither guilt nor innocence present. She acts like she just asked a harmless question, the type a concerned mother would ask about her child. Guy is not an idiot though; he knows she is fully aware that she just gave him the ammunition to destroy a good section of Jason’s dignity. By the looks of it she has a similar mission to him. Good. It’s two against one. Jason was right to be nervous.

Guy feels a slow grin creep onto his face as he sees Jason catch on from the corner of his eye.

“A story for a story?”

Talia looks at him critically before relenting. “You have yourself a deal, Mr Gardner.” She says, reaching over the table to shake his hand. Jason looks on in defeat. 

“Pleasure doing business with you Miss Al Ghul.” His hand dwarfs hers, which Guy finds funny, but this whole situation is so odd that this is probably the least of his concerns.

The waiter arrives then, and Guy realises he hasn’t even looked at the menu, so he just opens it up and picks the first thing he sees, which happens to be a duck salad along with spring rolls. Jason gets a few plates of dumplings so Guy might steal some of his. Talia orders some fancy dish with noodles which he would not be stealing any of.

Back to the topic at hand. He turns forward sharply, grinning and poking Jason in the side.

“So anyway.” Guy starts, “Wanna hear ‘bout the time Jason got drunk, messed up the kitchen and almost had a breakdown?”

Talia looks bemusedly interested, but Guy catches her shooting a disappointed glance towards her son. Jason is trying and failing to melt into the bench behind him, he should have worn a darker shirt if he wanted to do that.

“Okay so, Jace n I were drinkin’, right? And for some reason drunk Jason decides it would be funny to switch the sugar and salt and see if we remember, because Jason is dramatic and petty.” Talia nods sagely, sipping from her glass. “Anyways flash forward to th’ next morning and Jason is drinking his coffee and he just spits it directly out again. He doesn’t remember switching the salt and sugar though, so he decides the milk is off. It’s early in the morning and he’s hungover so his thinkin’ skills aren’t top notch. I don’t blame him,” Guy says faux sympathetically, patting Jason’s shoulder. “So, he goes out to buy more milk, yeah? And he remakes his coffee and surprise! It still tastes like shi- _awful._ He’s going slightly crazy over it now. He begins obsessively checkin’ the coffee label and hell even th mug he used to see what was up, everythin’ but the sugar, cause he wouldn’t have mixed that up, would he?” Guy pauses for dramatic effect, a very Jason thing to do his mind supplies. “Long story short it took him four cups of coffee to figure out what was wrong and then he sulked for a day and wouldn’t use sugar for the next week.”

Talia is smiling widely at the end, she doesn’t seem like the type to show her emotions, especially positive ones, openly so he’s pretty proud of himself for eliciting that reaction. Jason has put his head on the tabletop using his arms to cover his face. He is also proud of that reaction.

“Introduce your mom to your roommate, they said, they won’t tell awful stories about you they said. You’ll still have your dignity by the end of this!” Jason grumbles, reaching to slurp at his drink. 

“You have no one to blame but yourself Habibi,” Talia replies, choosing to ignore his antics, “There would be no stories to tell if you had common sense.”

“I thought you loved me, T!” Jason whines, Guy is doing his best to stifle his laughter.

“I do. However, that does not mean I think you are always sensible.” Talia smiles, then she faces Guy. “Now I believe it was my turn.”

They continue to swap stories, Jason butting in with minor details here and there. It’s a friendly atmosphere, still a little tense - they are still two people who are wary of each other to varying degrees, who care very much for the third person at this table. Talia seems open though, considering she has lead a life where suspicion is key and openness can get you killed, and Guy was never really judgemental in the first place, Jason adores her and while her occupation and activities might bring about some suspicion, Guy has got into the habit of not thinking the worst from the get go. He’s seen too much, met too many different beings to judge quickly.

Talia is in the middle of some story of an assassin Jason had a crush way back in the day when the food arrives. She pauses to take a bite of her noodles, taking the time to chew and swallow, watching Jason tuck in, relieved that the ‘embarrass the shit out of Jason’ section of this dinner was over.

Talia clears her throat, and with an expression on her face that implies she is fully aware the suffering her next few words will cause Jason.

“Speaking of romantic interests, Habibi, how is that Kyle of yours.”

Jason spits his drink back into his glass and Talia looks at him disdainfully.

“That is unbecoming of you, Jason. I would have hoped that I taught you better than that.”

Jason splutters for a moment longer before managing to compose himself, honestly Guy thinks he should have seen this coming.

“I- uh- what? How would I know? I haven’t seen him in years.” Jason stutters.

Talia purses her lips but it’s clear she’s having a lot of fun with this. 

“I am correct in believing you work with Kyle?” Talia asks Guy, while he is, unfortunately, mid-chew.

“Yeah,” He says, swallowing awkwardly, “What do you wanna know?”

“Quite a bit, Jason has been especially tight lipped when it comes to him and my searches did not reveal much.”

“Okay.” Guy drawls, eating a piece of lettuce. “Anything specific?”

“Do you think he is a suitable person for Jason to be with?” Well, that was straight to the point. Jason makes a small defeated noise and Guy nudges him slightly with his knee and steals a dumpling.

“Kyle’s sweet and very caring, one of the best of us.” Guy shrugs, “I haven’ seen the two of ‘em interact so I can’t say for sure but they seem good for each other.” 

Talia seems satisfied with that answer, nodding before flipping the subject completely.

“And yourself? Are there any romantic interests in your life?” Oh, _now_ Jason looks interested, little shit. Guy did not prepare for this.

“What?” He replies intelligently.

Now he’s experiencing the force of Talia’s disdainful look, it’s very similar to Jason’s actually, although he’s noticed that with a few mannerisms, eyebrow quirks especially, which he finds amusing.

Talia smiles disarmingly. “I wanted to know if there was anyone else Jason would be spending time around that I should meet.”

“Uh-, no one Jason has met, and we’re not datin’ or anything.”

Jason squeezes his thumb, gently, “He’s got a crush on Hal Jordan.”

Talia raises her eyebrows contemplatively. “Captain Jordan. He is admirable if rather unorthodox. I have only heard about him through Bruce, who is not his biggest fan. I know little about him.” She muses.

Guy grabs Jason’s hand when Bruce is mentioned, allowing him to squeeze it rather than have his whole body tense up.

“How, uh, is everything with him?” Jason asks, cautiously each word slight drawn out. Talia looks at him softly and places her hand over his other one.

“Same as always. He is persistent. Hard to talk to. He has gotten in the way of a few of my missions but nothing for you to worry about Habibi.” She reassures him.

They move back to normal chat after that. Or what can be considered normal for an assassin, vigilante and space cop. Jason talks about a few of his cases and meeting up with Roy and Guy manages to regale them with a couple space tales, including an incident with some untrained space assassins who Talia was thoroughly unimpressed by. He also whips out his phone at a few occasions, to try and sneakily show Talia pictures of Jason.

It’s wonderful to see Jason so open to another person, he hasn’t really interacted with other people in the caped world around Guy. Guy’s pretty happy his first incidence was positive, with someone who Jason likes and cares for. Talia seems like a lovely person, her night job aside. She’s charismatic and clearly enjoys loving teasing Jason and that's a trait he can really get behind. 

Jason isn’t exactly smiling but he has this content look on his face, like he knows this is where he should be and he’s comfortable. Guy honestly couldn’t ask for more, Jason is so full of insecurities and stress, seeing him exist somewhere public comfortably is amazing progress and Guy is so fucking proud.

They end the gathering a bit later, when Talia announces it’s getting late, and since she has a flight to catch, she’d rather not stay up late. She signals for the bill and pays for it all, which makes Guy feel bad for a total of 0.01 seconds until he realizes she is a very rich assassin and he is not. 

Talia walks with them to where the motorcycle is parked, looking at it in slight distaste when she sees it. Guy can understand that, it’s a bit busted up, Jason hasn’t given it much TLC lately, in favour of fixing up his ‘work bike’ and it has little flecks of mud on the side. She doesn’t really seem like a motorcycle woman either, so maybe she just disapproves of the vehicle in general.

She kisses Jason on the forehead, making him lean down rather than having her stand on her tiptoes, and says something to him in fast paced Arabic, he gives her a sad smile and nods. Then she pulls a small wrapped parcel from her bag and hands it to Guy.

“I was told you like tea, let me know what you think.”

“Er- thanks. It was nice meeting ya.” He says, sticking the parcel in the motorbike compartment.

“Likewise, send my regards to your Captain Jordan.” She pauses, “And Kyle.”

Guy nods, although privately decides to not do that, as much as it would freak Kyle and Hal out, he doesn’t need them questioning his connection to Talia Al Ghul. Hal might make the assumption that they’re sleeping together and Guy _really_ doesn’t need the man he’s in love with accusing him of being with his roommate's mom. 

With that, she pats Jason’s shoulder and walks off, fading into the shadows effortlessly.

“You good to go home?” Guy asks.

“Yeah.” Jason answers, and Guy tugs him into a side hug, leaning his head on top of Jason’s.

They get home pretty quickly; the streets are always empty at night in their neighbourhood and Jason would never have been considered the most legal of drivers. Guy wonders if he’s even got his license since he died before legal driving age.

It’s cold on the bike, no metal to protect him from the whipping winds and Guy’s ring can only do so much before he becomes a bright green glowing target. The perk of it is though, Guy gets to watch the buildings and trees go by, no barrier to obscure any of it. It’s one of the main things he missed in space, Earth civilization, the architecture and structure he grew up around. There is never really anything exactly like it out in space, there are planets more beautiful and advanced and there are calmer rural planets - but nothing the same as Earth. And while it may be nothing special, average in comparison to tech advancements and not at all the prettiest Guy finds himself feeling nostalgic for it when he’s up there. It’s becoming a more common feeling lately, since he’s been spending more time on Earth but he supposes that it’s a small price to pay. In a way the nostalgia is nice, it lets him know that there is some reason to feel connected to this mess of a planet - gives him a small bit of purpose where he previously felt aimless. 

He doesn’t really look at the sky, sees it up close often enough. But there have been few times he finds himself staring up in wonder or sadness, like that time in December with Jason. Everyone says the sky is beautiful, mystical and an unattainable dream but he’d rather enjoy the life around him. He’s been desensitized to the world up there, he thinks, doesn’t really see the wonder as much anymore.

Jason is quiet as they walk up the stairs to the apartment, not in a sad way, Guy notices, Jason’s sadness is easy to read, he wears his heart on his sleeve even if he tries not to, but in a thoughtful way. 

Doesn’t mean Guy can’t give him hugs though.

Once they’re in the apartment Guy wraps his arms around Jason who gladly reciprocates, hugging back.

“All good Jace?” He asks, swaying the two of them slightly.

“Yeah, yeah it’s great.” Jason hums. “‘S just that, T was the only decent parental figure I had, you know? B was good for a while but…” he sighs, “I’m just glad you guys get along.”

“Even if we’re making fun of you while we do it?”

“Even then.”

They stay silent for a bit, Jason moving away to get something to drink. The kid really has had rotten luck with parents from what Jason has told him. Will, or whatever the fuck his name was, was shit, Catherine was tried for a while but fell victim to drugs, his bio mom sold him out to his murderer, and Wayne slit his throat. He’s had awful, awful experiences and so Guy is grateful he managed to find a good parent through all that, even if she can’t always be there for him, Jason’s not at the place where he needs it anymore and they understand the circumstances, it’s nice to see Jason happy. Wow, sometimes Guy is really filled with the urge to deck Batman, and this time it’s for a bigger reason than him just being an insufferable prick. He wonders if Talia ever feels the urge too. Probably not, she has better ways to irritate him.

Out of the blue Guy announces, “Ya know I would fight Batman for you if you ever asked, righ’?”

Jason laughs softly, eyes crinkling. “You would fight Batman for fun, Guy.”

“That’s true but for you I’d fight him even harder.”

“That’s nice.” Jason comments lightly. “Don’t though, I’d rather stay off his attention radar, it’s the only way to keep him away.”

“Yeah, I get that. Offers always open if you need it though.”

A small smile settles on his face. “You’re dumb.” he says and the conversation moves on.

Later that evening Guy realises he never achieved objective number two. Oh well, that’s not really a first meeting sort of topic, and there is always next time.

**Author's Note:**

> hope y'all enjoyed! next ones a long one. check out my tumblr [starboysdcdumpster](https://starboysdcdumpster.tumblr.com/) where i am taking requests


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